BECOMING FEARLESS
Summary: Here's a memory that Leonardo would rather not talk about but Splinter remembers fondly. Leo is about 7.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.
Splinter wasn't sure why he decided to tell them on that particular day. Did he believe that they were of age? Probably not. But caution never hurt anybody.
It was not as though they weren't aware that they were different. They just never had that difference spelt out for them. However, Splinter felt that it was time to spell out the obvious for them. The turtles were becoming more and more restless, and although he did his best to keep them occupied, he knew that he could not keep them in the sunless world that they inhabited forever. Sooner or later, they'd have to face the fact that they were living under one of the busiest cities in the world and he wanted to prepare them for that.
They now had a little black and white TV set that Splinter had managed to get working and so knew that humans existed. Michelangelo was especially difficult to pull away from the TV. From this limited knowledge they had of the outside world – as far as they were concerned, there were only two main kinds of creatures: the humans that they saw on TV and the insects that they sometimes found crawling around the lair. Since they more closely resembled the humans than they did the insects, they concluded that they were simply weird humans.
Tonight, Splinter's job would to convince them that they were not weird humans; they were, in fact, weird animals! He knew that some of them would take the news hard, and prepared himself for a long talk with his beloved sons.
It was after dinner when Splinter spilled the beans on them. Each reacted in his own way much as Splinter had expected. Raphael's was a sense of disbelief and then again at having to hide from the rest of the world. Donatello's was thoughtful contemplation. Michelangelo took some time to comprehend the brevity of the situation and then reacted as he always did, by trying to make a joke out of the whole thing. Leonardo's reaction was harder to describe. He stood up strong for his brothers and appeared to embrace the situation. But his face remained expressionless.
After that, all the turtles became rather subdued and each sort of went about his own thing, lost in his own thoughts. After allowing the silence of the night to take over for a time to give the turtles some breathing space, he decided to check up on each of them to see how they were doing.
Michelangelo was already sitting happily in front of the TV, deeply absorbed in the premier of "Casper: the Friendly Ghost". Donatello was sitting at his desk, scribbling furiously into a notebook. Splinter guessed that he was recording the revelation. Raphael was using up a lot of energy, practicing with his sherikens using the kitchen door as a "target". Splinter found that he had to step in to prevent further damage of the kitchen door – and the wall, because Raph often missed. He suggested that maybe Raphael could join Michelangelo in watching "Casper"; and as he couldn't think of anything better to do, Raph obliged.
That left Leonardo and he was no where to be seen. Splinter decided to visit his room. His lack of expression during their post-dinner talk did seem a little odd, even for Leo (it was not his custom to show emotion in public). And now he's gone to his room. Clearly the revelation affected him deeply.
When Splinter got to Leonardo's room, he was not surprised to see that he was crying. He was surprised however to see that he had buried his face in his pillow. One thing was for sure, Leonardo very rarely cried. For Leo to be watering his pillow like this, he must have been really really upset.
"There, there." Splinter patted Leo on the shoulder, as any father would do when their child was having a good bawl.
"Master Splinter." Leo started. He seemed surprised to see his father there.
"It's all right." Splinter went on saying.
"If you need to cry, you should let it all come out. Don't hold it back. It's bad for you."
"Sorry sensei." Said Leo, taking a tissue.
"There is no need to be sorry." Splinter replied.
"Sorry you had to see this." Leo hurriedly wiped down his face.
"I know it was a big shock for you boys today. I expected that it would take some time for you to get used to the idea that you are mutants."
Leo looked away. Before he could stop himself, he was crying again. Splinter put a soothing hand on Leo's shoulders as he tried to calm himself down. Splinter could feel his son shaking and realized that the child was scared.
"Leonardo. It's alright. You have your brothers, and I will be here for you."
"But who will be there for you?" Leo asked shakily.
This was such an unexpected response that Splinter was taken aback.
"Like you said; we're the only ones of our kind, but there are four of us. There is only one you. You must be so lonely. You are always there for us and sheltering us, but when you are in trouble, who can help you? I would never be able to do what you have done. I would have died of loneliness." Leo continued; bringing tears to Splinter's own eyes.
"I am never lonely." Splinter smiled through his tears. "I have you. All of you. You're good kids."